By EMMA REYNOLDS and SARA NATHAN

Erika Toutenhoofd whose Jack Russell dog Jack went chasing rabbits while walking on the Trans-Pennine Trail in Penistone

Like many dogs, Jack loves nothing more than chasing rabbits.

So when the lively Jack Russell darted off in pursuit of one, his owners weren’t worried. It was only when he failed to return that Carl and Erika Toutenhoofd went in search, growing increasingly anxious as they failed to find him.

Day after day they returned to the spot where he disappeared to continue the hunt and asked friends and family to help them.


Jack: 16 days passed without any sightings


Sixteen days passed without any sightings of their beloved pet and they reluctantly gave up hope of ever seeing him again.

Then a friend, Louise Bedford, who was out walking her own dogs heard whimpering coming from brambles and found nine-year-old Jack trapped in a rabbit hole with his head poking out.

Within minutes she had dug him out. He had miraculously survived his underground ordeal living off nothing but rain water.


Miracle! Rescuer Louise Bedford and owner Erica Towtenhoofd with Jack the jack Russell


Jack was treated by a vet for severe dehydration and has since made a good recovery, although he may have to have an eye removed because it developed ulcers while he was in the hole.

Mrs Toutenhoofd, 40, and her 41-year-old husband, who run a pub in Penistone, South Yorkshire, were walking their pet on the nearby Trans-Pennine Trail when he darted off on August 14.

‘I spent hours looking for him,’ said Mrs Toutenhoofd. ‘I thought I was never going to see him again, it was awful.’

'The most he'd ever been gone before was a couple of days and then he'd turn up at home.'

Jack was taken to a vet and given glucose to combat his severe dehydration.


source: dailymail